Guest Post : Barley Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms

Extra special guest post today – not only is it our first celebrity guest post.. but the guest poster is one of my favorite foodie tweeps.

We bonded over our mutual affection for a fictional character – Jean Valjean – and our excitement over an upcoming movie featuring Hugh Jackman (yum) playing him. We’ve since found out that we have the same knives. Small world! I digress.. Mairlyn Smith is pretty awesome.

She’s also hilarious – the only professional home economist who’s also an alumnus of the Second City Comedy Troupe. As a cookbook author, and is well known for her warm personality and the wit she brings to her many TV appearances in Canada. Also? She’s adorable!

Mairlyn’s email signature – “Peace, Love, and Fibre” – hints at her culinary passion: healthy eating. Her latest cookbook, “Healthy Eating Starts Here!” is a masterpiece. Huge, beautifully photographed book featuring 140 recipes that are not only healthy, but delicious and accessible.

Today’s blog post marks another first – the first time in my life that I’ve ever followed a recipe to the letter! No adding/subtracting ingredients, or otherwise screwing with it! I’m not sure if I should be proud of that newfound ability, or mourn the loss of the claim.

Let’s go with “proud”. The recipe – from “Healthy Starts Here!” – was fabulous, and didn’t need to be messed with at all. By the time I had the ingredients simmering, my husband was circling the kitchen like an impatient shark, repeatedly declaring how awesome it all smelled, and how hungry he was. The final product did NOT disappoint! Tons of flavor, great texture, and very satisfying!

Barley is a super grain that can help unclog your arteries and as well as keep your GI tract (gastro-intestinal tract) moving in the right direction.
An ancient grain – not just for use in the whiskey business – barley’s real claim to fame is its high amounts of soluble fibre, beta glucans to be specific. This type of fibre helps lower cholesterol which in turn lowers your chances of developing heart disease. It also promotes healthy blood sugar levels by slowing down the absorption of glucose, which makes this a winning combination for diabetics.
With heart disease ranked as the #1 killer of both men women in North America becoming proactive about the foods we eat is important. Enter foods that are high in soluble fibre. Enter: apples, beans and legumes, green peas, eggplant, oats, oat bran and barley.

Conjure up a bowl of risotto and thoughts of rice and cheese dance in most people’s heads. Give risotto a health tune-up, and what you get is a creamy cheesy risotto with the health benefits of this powerful whole grain.

When picking barley it has to be POT! (Yes, pot can be good for you, depending on the kind you are talking about.)

Pot barley is the closest we can get to the whole grain version – pearl barley has had the outer layer polished off reducing its nutrient density as well as the cooking time. For heart health and this recipe uses pot. Pot barley that is.*

Barley Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms Recipe

Every time you eat this fabulous barley dish you are getting a beta glucan rich meal. Throw in those all important garlic and onions and you have a risotto that is the equivalent to sending your heart a love letter.

6. Heat a medium/large pot over medium heat. Add oil and onions and sauté for 3 minutes or until the onions are just starting to turn golden brown. Add garlic and thyme and sauté for 1 minute.

7. Add barley and sauté for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, reserved mushroom liquid and chopped mushrooms, stirring well to make sure any bits clinging to the bottom of the pot are mixed in. Bring to a boil, stir once more, cover, reduce heat to low/simmer and cook for 50-55 minutes or until barley is tender but not mushy. Stir occasionally to promote the creaminess of a risotto.

8. When done, remove from heat, stir, sprinkled with cheese and stir in. If adding peas stir in now. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve.

* Marie’s Note: I was unable to find “pot barley” in the local grocery stores. Not too much of a surprise – there are some odd differences in nomenclature between certain Canadian / US foodstuffs. Technology is a great thing – between photos of the options, and twitter, Mairlyn and I were able to determine that “Hull-less Barley” (by Bob’s Red Mill) is what she refers to as “pot barley).

Dried porcini mushrooms are Italian mushrooms add a smoky, meaty flavour to any dish. You can find packaged dried porcini mushrooms in larger grocery stores in the produce department. And just because nothing is easy, depending on the brand and the store, they come in different size packages. If you don’t have any luck, check out an Italian grocery store and if that seems like way too much work or you don’t live anywhere close to an Italian grocery store, then choose dried shiitake mushrooms which are becoming more readily available.

Marie is an award winning cake artist based in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Known as much for her delicious and diverse flavor menu as for her sugar artistry, Marie’s work has graced magazines and blogs around the world. Having baked and designed for brides, celebrities, and even Klingons, Marie was proud to share her wealth of baking knowledge in her two cookbooks: “The Spirited Baker” and “Evil Cake Overlord”. Marie has also authored a book about her experiences surrounding the 2011 Minneapolis tornado: “Twisted: A Minneapolis Tornado Memoir”

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1 thought on “Guest Post : Barley Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms”

This is an amazing meal, I had every reason to circle the kitchen like an impatient shark! I love the texture of the pot barley, it’s almost like a firm pop, but not in a chewy or difficult-to-eat way. The mushrooms are amazing, and the goat cheese adds a wonderful sharpness to the dish. I love it, this will definitely be a repeat!